This invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming a pocket-spring coil mattress having a plurality of rolls of closed interconnected fabric pockets, the pockets in each row individually encasing a respective spring, the rows being connected to other such rows separated by elastomeric material bonded between the rows, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for positioning, holding and bonding the pocket-spring rows to the elastomeric material and to other rows.
In Breckle U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,309, a mattress is disclosed having rows of closed fabric pockets with a coil spring positioned in each pocket, there being a plurality of pockets in each row and the rows being connected transversely relative to the direction of the rows by an elastic connecting wall adhesively bonded between each pair of rows. However, the method for forming the mattress is merely disclosed as applying adhesive to an endless strip of connecting wall and pressing an endless row of pockets onto the strip until the connection is made and hardening has occurred. The combination row is then divided transversely into rows of finite length and each such row is thereafter bonded to other rows. In Suenens et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,004, which does not utilize a connecting wall between the rows of springs, each row of springs is compressed by a pressure plate to hold and position them so that an adhesively coated row may be pushed against another such row. The use of such a pressure plate causes the pocket material to sag and results in a bulging in the center portion of the springs, which was pointed out earlier by Breckle as being a problem. A similar pocket coil mattress is disclosed in Long et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,635 but the springs in the pockets in each row are formed from a continuous length of wire so that adjacent springs are interconnected, albeit each pocket contains one to three springs. None of this known prior art, however, is directed toward a method and apparatus for manufacturing a pocket-coil mattress in an efficient and practical manner.